Night Time Fear
by Music Is The Soul
Summary: After Loki's attempt to take over earth failed and the Avengers became public knowledge the other inhabitants of earth realise that S.H.I.E.L.D may pose a threat to their survival.With Loki having escaped from Asguard and predators emerging from the shadows, an age old blood feud threatens to consume the earth and all those who are fighting it.There is a reason humans fear the dark
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

A night sky lit with only a thin slice of moon smothered the glowing skyline of London. In the suburbs a girl screamed as a man threw her to the ground. He was tall, pale and dressed in a black suit that hugged his perfect limbs. His long, shoulder length blond hair was tied up with a strip of leather and he started to smile as he moved closer to the girl. He placed his foot on the small of her back slowly adding weight until he had her pinned to the ground; face forced into the road and unable to make a sound. He smiled, his thirst and silent heart urging him on.

"Matthew." The velvet voice made him flinch in the dark alleyway, his amused expression dissolving. " Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food? It's rude." His surprise at the voice made him remove his foot from the girl and she scrambled up and ran off.

"Now look what you made me do; now I'll have to go and find her again. Anyway I thought my debt to you had been repaid, what do you want from me?

A female figure stepped out from the shadows.

" I'm hurt that you have so little faith in me Matthew, what on earth makes you think that I want anything from you?" She walked slowly towards him and he was unable to conceal the shiver of fear that ran down his spine as she closed in on him, her dark mahogany hair pooling around the shoulders of her leather jacket and glowing scarlet in the soft light of the waxing moon. Her golden eyes met his own onyx gaze as she finally stopped her approach less than three feet away from him.

"You only come to me when you want something." He stated as her quiet laughter sent yet more shivers down his spine.

"I thought our history meant more to you than that my dear Matthew but it appears not. No, I come not with a bargain this time, but an offer." She said, fingering the sleeve of her jacket where he knew the deadly blade of a hidden knife to be concealed. He took a nervous step back. "Worried are we Matthew? My, but you have changed, where is the cocky and confident leader I fought against all those years ago?"

"He disappeared when you set your pack of demonic mongrels on my family, killing half of the coven."

"You have a long memory Matthew but that time is of no consequence now, and nor are your insults; besides, you were on my territory and I get quite possessive of what belongs to me. I assume you have seen the recent events in New York?" She started to walk in a small circle around him, taking slow, languid steps and looking at the ground so that her profile could be seen in the weak light, highlighting her sharp features. Her boots made no sound as they met the tarmac.

"I have."

"Then you will know of the emerging importance of a corporation that goes by the name of S.H.I.E.L.D, its work, those who work with it, the way they are oblivious to our existence, and also the way they are becoming a possible threat to our survival"

"Get on with it Skylar."

"A little edgy tonight aren't we?" said Skylar looking up at him and smirking "I have spoken with Ryan. We both think it best if we let S.H.I.E.L.D know exactly who they are been sharing this world with before they discover us themselves. It would give us the advantage. They have spent too much time focusing on what lies on other planets rather than what is already here."

"Then why are you here Skylar? If you and Ryan want to put on a show then who am I to stop you?"

"Because," She replied looking him in the eye, "as much as it pains me to say it, you are a powerful vampire held in high regard in the covenant, and I want to know where the covens stand in this matter. Ryan and I agree that the time for hiding in the shadows has passed, but are unsure how to proceed without the support of covens. I think over two millennia of sneaking around and killing each other in the dark is quite long enough. The war is becoming outdated."

Matthew let his gaze wonder over her figure, her dark jeans highlighting her long legs and highly feminine body. He stopped as he saw the two guns, one strapped to each thigh, undoubtedly loaded with irradiated ammunition.

"A girl must always be prepared, don't you think? Even these days." she whispered noting the direction of his gaze. She smirked again, this time showing her perfect teeth. Matthew swallowed and returned the smile.

"Of course, but tell me Skylar, are you really here to negotiate on behalf of Ryan and yourself or do you have an ulterior motive of your own like you usually do?" Matthew's confidence returning to him as he realised she hadn't come to kill him. If she had, he would no longer be talking with her, nor would she have need of the guns at her disposal.

"Now there's the Matthew I know." She said, her smile widening, "So, will you speak with the covens? Ryan and I have agreed to a truce. You can be very persuasive when you want to be Matthew."

"A truce?" Matthew was surprised, even though there were roughly equal numbers of both of their species; the alphas in wolven society had far more power than the coven leaders. Skylar, as weak and feminine as she might appear at first glance, was one of the most powerful alphas in existence. Her bloodline extended back to the creation of both species, making her almost unparalleled in the power she wielded, both physically and over the others of her kind. If she wanted you dead then you ran, and fast, but you never got far. She also tended to deal in favours with many debts owed to her in places both high and low, making her a dangerous and formidable opponent. She had destroyed many covens in the war between species with the use of these connections, the war she had been born to fight. He saw her mask-like expression slip slightly, revealing exhaustion and sadness before it she recomposed herself.

"Yes Matthew that is my offer, a truce to ensure that there is no blood feud between the species while we see what the humans are now capable of. Get the other covens to agree to this and we'll be able to show the humans just why they fear the dark." She turned away, walking calmly to the end of the street and then looked back at him. "And if I were you, who luckily I'm not, I'd go catch up with your little midnight snack before she gets too far. It would be so sad if you had to speak with other coven leaders on an empty stomach." With that she turned once more and melted smoothly into the darkness of the next street, leaving Matthew feeling cold to the core. He had no choice but to call the coven leaders to council to discuss a truce with the wolves that would mean an end to the blood feud.

**OK thanks for reading this far. I hope that this was OK as it is my first attempt at a fanfic. Any reviews are greatly received and I would be honoured to hear your opinion. I can't promise when I will next update but I mean to have the avengers featuring in the first chapter. Hugs and cookies for everyone and may the odds be ever in your favour.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the avengers or Loki (although it would be nice if I did) I only own my OCs. **

Chapter 1:

Tony sank down into the soft leather of his very expensive and very comfortable sofa, nursing an unstarted scotch in his right hand and closed his eyes. For the first time since before the fight for New York he had nothing to do but relax, the repairs to his tower finally finished that evening. The mechanical voice of his AI broke the blissful silence of the lack of sweaty workmen making him groan. He knew something like this was bound to happen.

"_Sir, Director Fury is at the entrance along with Mr Odinson, Dr. Banner, Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers."_

"Send them in JARVIS" Tony sighed as he reluctantly put down his scotch on a glass coffee table, knowing that it had been too good to be true. He stood up and walked over to the elevator to greet his friends. He supposed he had better greet Fury as well. The elevator opened with a ping and the figures stepped out. Fury walked straight out, his leather coat flowing out behind him, Natasha close behind him unreadable as ever. Bruce and Steve followed deep in a murmured conversation, and last came Thor, barely recognisable in ill-fitting jeans and shirt, his brow furrowed in worry .

"So," said Tony, drawing out the word, "what's the party? Do I need to order any bubbly?"

"Stark this is not the time for jokes. Loki has escaped from Asguard." Fury replied curtly, getting straight to the point as usual. Thor hung his head.

"What? You mean green sleeves has done a runner? I mean despite him being a complete box full of cats and all, you've got to hand it to the guy, he's determined to-"

"Stark this is a serious situation!" Natasha cut him off, Steve nodding in agreement with her, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"She's right," Bruce said "Coincidently we got a very high energy reading over London the night he escaped from Asguard. That means that there is a very good chance that he is running around in England somewhere. The only thing is that there is no trace of his presence anywhere." He trailed off looking around the room, adjusting the glasses perched on his nose.

"Oh good, that means you can all leave me and my lovely scotch alone until you trace him and Pepper gets back from Washington. Nice to see you all though. Bye bye."

"Stark." Fury stared at him hard with his one eye.

"Oh fine, go ahead ruin my peace and quiet. Why would reindeer games want to go to England though? Ugh, nothing happens over there except the odd tea party and nasty weather-"Tony's rant was cut off sharply by Steve.

"Loki needs to be tracked down. We can decide what to do when we find him, in the mean time S.H.I.E.L.D agents are exploring the area where Loki landed. Our priority is to get him contained, once that has been achieved we can think of what we do with him and whether he goes back home."

"How did he escape from Azkaban anyway?" Tony mused out loud, wondering how even a god like Loki could slip out of prison under Odin and Thor's combined watchful noses.

"I do not know of this Azkaban you speak of, but it would appear that my brother used magic of some sort to escape from his imprisonment." Thor answered, "He did not speak a word to anyone in all the time he was in Asguard, and he must have been planning his escape for some time."

"Naturally, how else would he escape, using a slice of toast perhaps?" Tony said picking up his scotch and downing it in one.

"Well I am still trying to locate Agent Barton in Brazil, so he will join you when I manage to contact him " Natasha raised her eyebrows at the mention of Clint's location, it was unusual for her not to accompany him on a mission, "however as of now the Avengers initiative is active, Agent Romanoff, come with me." With that the Director turned on his black booted heel and walked back into the elevator and told JARVIS to take him to the first floor.

"Wait, Fury, hang on, what am I supposed to do with these guys in the meantime? They aren't staying here!"

"But they are staying here Tony. You and Banner need to work on locating Loki." Natasha said smirking from the inside of the lift as she doors started to close.

"Well yeah, obviously Bruce needs to stay here so we can work, but what am I supposed to do with Thunder Viking and the Star Spangled Soldier?" Tony complained, whining like a small child with an attitude problem.

"Well it would be a shame for all those lovely renovated rooms of yours to stay empty wouldn't it?" Natasha replied and the doors to the elevator met and the quiet whir of metal descending could be heard.

"_Shall I prepare rooms for Dr. Banner, Mr Odinson and Captain Rogers?"_

"Yeah fine, whatever JARVIS."

Thor and Steve walked out of Tony's lounge leaving a concerned looking Bruce behind fiddling with the seam on his shirt and squinting through his glass lenses around the room.

"What's the matter Bruce? We find him, the other guy has a second round of fun and Loki goes back home, no fuss no muss. Why the long face?" Tony asked, despite appearances and an oversized ego Tony did truly care for his science buddy.

"I don't know. None of this makes sense and I have a feeling that something else is coming. The other guy feels it too. There is something missing, how can Loki just vanish from plain sight? Something isn't adding up. The feeling has been getting worse since the New York incident."

"Well that's nice." said Tony "let's keep the atmosphere nice and light shall we? Everything will be better after a good night's sleep and a good stiff drink. Come on." Pushing Bruce towards the hallway leading to their rooms, but before he turned out the light in the lounge, something made him turn round and look back into the now empty room, the cold feeling of being watched swept over him and a shiver went down his back, turning his nerve endings to ice. The feeling passed as quickly as it came.

"See," murmured Bruce, "that's what I mean. Something is not right. "

"Whatever. Sleepy time now big guy, we start the face trace in the morning, S.H.I.E.L.D still has his visual files from last time, I wonder if rock of ages has grown his hair?" The two men walked down the hallway and turned off into their rooms. As Tony shut the door he spoke to the ceiling.

"Jarvis?"

"_Yes sir?"_

"Raise the security levels will you, I want eyes on everything within a hundred metre radius."

"_Of course Sir."_

* * *

On top of the office block next to Stark Tower Ryan smiled to himself, his heightened senses picking up every word of the conversation. They could feel it. A storm was coming whether S.H.I.E.L.D liked it or not, he stepped off the edge of the skyscraper and landed soundlessly on the balls of his feet on the sidewalk thirty five stories below. Ryan glanced up at the glowing face of the full moon trying to remember when it had last forced him to change. It had been a long time.


End file.
